Dakota Datebook: Justice Spalding

Prairie Public: "On this date in 1912, Burleigh Folsom Spalding arrived in Bismarck with his family and all their household goods. They moved into their rented house on the corner of 5th and Avenue B. The Spaldings intended to make Bismarck their permanent home."

Nation: 'FACT' teams aim to keep people with mental illness out of jail

MPR News: "When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, often the only alternatives are jail or an emergency room. Neither of those alternatives is particularly helpful, and sometimes they can make a person’s condition worse."

U.S.: Justices to consider dispute over tax credits for scholarships

SCOTUSblog: "This winter, the justices will . . . review a decision by the Montana Supreme Court invalidating a tax-credit program because the scholarships created by the program could be used at religious schools. The impact of the justices’ eventual ruling could be significant."

The Constitution Annotated: The Constitution explained in plain English

To celebrate this year's Constitution Day, the Law Library of Congress is launching the Constitution Annotated, a website that provides online access to a massive Senate document that has served for more than a century as the official record of the U.S. Constitution.

UND Law faculty member Denitsa Mavrova Heinrich named Webb Professor

UND News Release: "Assistant Professor Denitsa Mavrova Heinrich has been named the Rodney & Betty Webb Professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law."

Minn.: 'Restorative circles' launch in St. Paul for some first-time offenders

MPR News: "At a St. Paul church, Russel Balenger held up a shiny quartz stone and set the ground rules for the conversation to come. Rule No. 1: Only speak when you’re holding the talking piece, he told about 30 people. No. 2: What’s said in the circle stays in the circle."

New opinions: Sept. 12

The Supreme Court has issued four new opinions.

U.S.: Court cuts jury award, warns Steinbeck family to end litigation

KTLA News: "A federal appeals court attempted to close the book on endless litigation between the relatives of author John Steinbeck in a ruling that upheld a $5 million verdict against his daughter-in-law, but threw out $8 million she faced in punitive damages."

U.S.: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reflects on Supreme Court’s unchanging 'collegiality'

UChicago News: "After more than a quarter of a century on the United States Supreme Court, what hasn’t changed for Ruth Bader Ginsburg are her cordial relationships with her fellow justices."

Ninth Circuit strikes down Montana ban on political robocalls

Courthouse News Service: "Montana can’t outlaw political robocalls, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, finding the state’s law violates the First Amendment, hamstrings underdog candidates and fails to protect recipients from financial scams."